System of elevated and surface railways



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, G. H. BARROWS.

4 SYSTEM 01? ELEVATED AND SUEEAGE RAILWAYS.

No. 517,535. Patente Apr. 3, 1894.

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O. H. BARROWS. SYSTEM'OF ELEVATED AND SURFAGE RAILWAYS.

No. 517,535. I Patented Apr. 3, 1894.

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SYSTEM- OF ELEVATED AND SUEEAGEEAIEW'AYS. No., 517,535. Patented Apr. 3,1894.

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CHARLEQH. BARROWS,-OF WILLIMANTIC, CONNECTICUT.

SYSTEM o F ELEVATED AND SURFACE RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent NO. 517,535, dated April 3,1894. Applicationfiled May 17, 1893. SerialNo-4'l4,543. (No model.)

To alt whom it may concern.-

l 3e1t known that I, CHARLES H. BARROWS, a citizen of the United States,residing at VVillimant1c,in the county of Windham and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSystems of Elevated and Surface Railways; and I do hereby declare thefollowing'to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

My present invention relates to a system of elevated and surfacerailways in which I prov1d e an elevated structure to accommodate trainsadapted to travel at high speed between main stations-of a railwaywithout danger of obstructions common to surface railways, while on thesurface of the ground I employ a single rail track and cars adapted totravel. at a comparatively slow speed, to stop at frequent intervals forthe accommodation of the traveling public, and which can be run to anydesired points or places to convey the passengers to the main station,so that the passengers can transfer from the slow movlng surface cars tothe rapid elevated cars and be quickly conveyed by the latter from onemain station to another.

In my new system of railways I employ cars of "l1ght construction to bepropelled by electric power and run at frequent intervals as dlstlnglished from long heavily loaded'trains running at long intervals oftime; and by this system I utilize the-surface lines as feeders to theelevated rapid cars which are designed principally as a. means forquickly transporting suburban residents to the principal station orstations in a large city.

In addition to the foregoing objects I 'aim to reduce the cost of trackconstruction and ma ntenance in elevated and surface railways, to avoidderailment, and to simplify the construction of both the track and cars,thereby eifecting economy in the primary construction and maintenance ofthe railway.

The first part of my invention resides in the elevated structure inwhich I employ two longitudinal girders, and a central guide railbetween the girders, which parts constitute the track on which are runthe elevated oars. Each girder may be constructed of wood planks, or ofmetal, or of wood and metal together; and the several pieces arearranged to break joints and are held by transverse fastenings thatunite the several parts securely together. The side girders and centralguide rail are laid so that their upper surfaces are in about the samelevel, and on these side girders travel broad fiangeless bearingwheelsof the front and rear trucks of the locomotive or car, and on the guiderail between the girders ride the flanged guide wheels carried by theforward and rear axles of the car or locomotive. The body of thelocomotive is so arranged or hung that the greater part of the weightthereof is thrown on the larger flangeless driving wheels attho rear ofthe locomotive to secure the necessary traction between said flangelessdrive wheel and the girders on which they ride or bear; while thecentral flanged wheels of the forward and rear trucks serve as the meansfor guiding the locomotive or car tocause it to keep to the track andreduce the liability of derailment to a minimum. V In elevatedstructures, a train of cars is employed consisting of a locomotivecarrying the electric motor for driving the rear axle, and one, two ormore passenger coaches, each coach provided with front and rear trucks,the axles of which are provided with the broad treadflangeless wheelsand with centrally aligned flanged wheels that ride'on the central guiderail of the track.

'In the surface lines of railways that serve as feeders to the elevatedmain lines, I provide a single bearing rail which may be laid on asuitable road bed, and employ an electrically propelled car which hasits front truck furnished with aligned flanged wheels that ride on therail and the rear truck has its axleprovided with a large flanged wheeland with broad tread flangeless wheels that are adapted to travel on theground, or on planks or other supports laid on the ground, the car bodybeing so hung or arranged that the single rail will bear its proportionof the weight of said car body while the broad flangeless wheels on therear axle cause the car to maintain its upright proper position.

And the invention further consists in the combination of devices andpeculiar construc- ICO tion and arrangement of parts as will behereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Ihave illustrated the preferred embodiment of my invention, in which-Figure 1 is a side elevation of my elevated and surface railway, andFig. 2 is an end view showing cars on the elevated and surface railways.Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of a portion of the girders and guiderail forming the track of the elevated railway. Fig. 4 is a plan View ofthe running gear foran eleetri cally propelled car on the elevatedrailway. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the running gear for a trailing coachto be coupled to the elec; trically propelled car on the elevated orsurface railway. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the trucks or running gear foran electricallypropelled car specially designed fora surface railway.

Like letters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the figuresof the drawings.

A designates the track for the elevated structure to sustain theelevated rapid train of cars traveling between main stations on the lineof the railway. This elevated track is supported at a suitable height byvertical columns and trestle work constructed in any approved manner toafford the necessary stability and security for the elevated train ofcars, and said track consists of the girders B, I3, and the guide rail0, the latter situated between and equidistant from the girders B, B,and the whole being united or tied together by any approved appliancesto insure the girders and rail remaining in their proper relativepositions. Each girder is constructed to provide a broad bearing surfacefor the broad fiangeless wheels of the cars to ride upon so as tomaintain the cars in their up right positions; and each girder isconstructed of a series of sections a, b, 0, arranged so that the endsbreak joints with each other, and they are united together by transversefastenings so as to present a solid substantial structure with apractically level upper surface. The girder may be constructed of woodenplanks arranged laterally in contact with each other to present theiredges to the faces or treads of the broad fiangeless carwheels, andunited together by through bolts D which pass transverselythrough theplanks; or the girder may be built up of metallic plates or bars, or itmay consist of wood and metal parts united together, the object being toprovide a cheap, strong and durable girder or sleeper devoid of theusual rail and having a broad bearing surface for the fiangeless carwheels. The central guide rail maybe the usual T-rail employed in theconstruction of ordinary railway tracks, and in the elevated railwaythis rail is arranged so that its upper surface is level with the top orbroad surface of the girders or sleepers B, B. This elevated structureaccommodates high speed trains which consist of an electricallypropelled car or locomotive E and one or more passenger coaches ortrailers F which are coupled to the car or locomotive E. This propelledcar or locomotive E is provided with a long frame work 6 forming therear truck and a means for pivotally supporting the front truck e; andthese trucks e, e, are connected by a vertical kin g bolt c to enablethe front truck 0' to turn horizontally and follow the line or curves inthe track.

G is the rear axle which has suitable bearings in the rear part of thetruck a, and on this axle are fixed the large central wheel II and thetwo carrying wheels I, I. Said central wheel H is provided withperipheral flanges that form a deep annular groove in "its wheel II toenable said Wheel to travel on the central rail 0 of the track, whilethe carrying wheels I are devoid of flanges and provided with broadbearing treads adapted to ride or bear on the broad girders or sleepersB. To this axle G is geared an electric motor (not shown) which iscarried by the ear E for imparting motion to the axle to propel the car;and the body of the car is so hung or arranged that the weight thereofis thrown principally on the rear carrying wheels I to secure thetraction or friction between the broad wheels I and the girders orsleepers necessary for the propulsion of the car. The electric motor maybe supplied with a current of electric energy from an overhead or atrack conductor, but this is not an important factor in my railwaysystem forming the subjectof the present application, as such conductormay be arranged, and supplied with energy, in any preferred manner andby any suitable means.

The front truck 6' of the car E sustains an axle or shaft J whichcarries smaller broad bearing wheels j, j, at its ends to enable thelatter to ride on the broad girders or sleepers; and this front truckalso sustains the shafts 7t, 7.5, of the flanged guide wheels K, K,which are arranged in line with each other and s1tuated at the front andrear respectively of said front truck (2', said aligned wheels K,K,being each provided with peripheral flanges which are spaced to form adeep annular groove in the periphery of the wheel to enable said wheelsto follow and keep to the central guide rail around the curves of thetrack. The broad fiangeless wheels I, j, that run on the girders orsleepers are designed to sustain the weight of the car and its lead,while the grooved aligned wheels II, K, K, serve to guide the car alongthe line of the central guide rail so that in elevated structures it isnot necessary to use a heavy rail for the central guide rail 0 asthelatter is not designed to sustain a part of the weight of the caralthough it may be arranged to do so. The front part of the carE issustained by hangers pivotally connected to the forward truck 6' whilethe rear part of the car is mounted on suitable springs; and thesesustaining devices and the construction of the car body and tracks maybe of any form or character having the approval of persons skilled inthis art.

- nished with the front and rear trucks L, L,

each of which carries the axle Z provided with the broad flangelesswheels Z adapted to travel on the girders or sleepers B; and each;

truck is further provided with the flanged wheels M, M, situated at thefront and rear of the truck and in line with each other to ride upon thecentral guide rail 0. I I

In the surface railway, I use a single rail track on which slowly movingcars N are de-' signed to run and which stop at frequent intervals fortaking on and letting off passen-' ers This rail 0 of the surface lineis laid or arranged so that it lies above the surface of the ground ashort distance, and it is designed to bear its proportion of the weightof said" car body, which in this instance is arranged or hung so that apart of the weight thereof is thrown on the single rail 0. The car N hasthe front and rear trucks, the former being furnished simply with theflanged aligned guide wheels 11, n, in the middle thereof to ride uponthe rail 0 while the rear driving axle has a motor geared thereto and isprovided with the large flanged driving wheel and with the largebroad'flangeless wheels. These broad flangeless wheels of the rear truckin the surface car are designed to run on the surface of the ground,although planks or sleepers may be provided for said wheels when therail 0 is laid on ground which does not admit of the wheels bearingthereon, but this is optional.

The surface railways may be situated directly beneath the elevatedtrack, or they may branch therefrom in any or every direction toaccommodate different sections of the surrounding country and transmitthe residents thereof to a main station, from whence they can have quickpassage to a central or any one of the main stations on the elevatedrailway.

, The operation and advantages of myinvention will be readily understoodand appreciated by those skilled in the art from the foregoingdescription taken in connection with the drawings.

I am aware that changes in the form and proportion of parts and detailsof construction of the devices herein shown and described as 1. In arailway system, an elevated track having the broad girders and centralgulde rail which accommodate respectively the flangeless traction wheelsand flanged central wheels of a car, and a single surface rail adaptedto receive the flanged wheels of a car provided with traction wheels,substantially as and for the purpose described.

- 2. In a railway system, the elevated track comprising the broadgirders or sleepers and a central guide rail between the main stations,an elevated car having its trucks provided with the aligned flangedcentral wheels that ride on the central rail and the axles provided withthe flangeless traction wheels that bear on the sleepers or girders, asingle surface rail leading to a main station of the elevated line and asurface car provided with central aligned wheels that ride on saidsingle rail and having the traction wheels designed to sustain thecar-body in its upright position, substantially as described.

3. In a railway system, an elevated track comprising a central guiderail and the broad smooth sleepers situated parallel to, and insubstantially the same horizontal plane with,

said central guide rail, an elevated car having at its rear end an axlewhich carries a central flanged wheel adapted to the middle rail andprovided at its ends with traction wheels which normally ride upon thebroad sleepers of the track, said car having a pivotal front truck whichsustains an axle carrying traction wheels adapted to the side sleepersand provided, in advance and rear of said axle, with independent flangedguide wheels which align with the rear guide wheel of the car and are sodisposed as to normally ride upon the central guide rail, for thepurposes described, substantially as set forth.

4. In a railway system, the elevated track comprising a central guiderail and the side girders or sleepers, an elevated car having itsforward pivoted truck provided with the central flanged wheels that rideon said central rail and with the traction wheels to bear on thegirders, and a rear power axle provided with the flanged wheel in linewith the flanged wheels of the forwardtruckand with the broad flangelesstraction wheels that bear on the girders or sleepers of the track,substantially as described.

5. In a railway system, the combination with a guide rail, of a car, thetruck connected with said car andcarrying a group of flanged guidewheels all disposed in the longitudinal center thereof, andthetransverse axle journaled in the truck and provided at the ends withbroad flan geless traction wheels designed to normally bear on a smoothsurface to sustain the greatest weight of the car body, as set forth, I

6. An elevated railway comprising a track embodying a central guide railbetween two sleepers or girders which are built up of sections unitedlaterally together to break joints and present a fiat smooth uppersurface, a

car, the trucks connected with said car and In testimony whereof I aifixmy signaturein each carrying a group of flanged guide Wheels presence oftwo witnesses. disposed to ride on the central rail and the CHARLES HBARROVS transverse axles j onrnaled in said trucks and 5 provided withbroad traction wheels which Witnesses:

ride on the smooth sleepers or girders, snb- DWIGHT A. LYMAN, stantiallyas described. FRANCIS ODWYRE.

